Demographics of Guinea - Ethnic Groups

Ethnic Groups

• Fulɓe (singular Pullo). Called Peuhl or Peul (fr:Peul) in French, Fula or Fulani in English, who are chiefly found in the mountainous region of Fouta Djallon;
• Maninka. Malinke in French, Mandingo in English, mostly inhabiting the savanna of Upper Guinea and the Forest region;
• Susus or Soussous. Susu is not a lingua franca in Guinea. Although it is commonly spoken in the coastal areas, including the capital, Conakry, it is not largely understood in the interior of the country.
• Several small groups (Gerzé or Kpelle, Toma, Kissis, etc.) in the forest region and Bagas (including Landoumas), Koniagis etc. in the coastal area.

West Africans make up the largest non-Guinean population. Non-Africans total about 30,000 (mostly French, other Europeans, and Lebanese). Seven national languages are used extensively; the major written languages are French, Pular (Fula or Peuhl), and Arabic. Other languages have established Latin orthographies that are used somewhat, notably for Susu and Maninka. The N'Ko alphabet is increasingly used on a grassroots level for the Maninka language.